Henderson, Buncombe high schools rank high in NC
Hendersonville High School is ranked fourth in North Carolina in the U.S. News and World Report’s “Best High Schools” rankings, released Tuesday, while three Buncombe County high schools placed in the Top 20.
Hendersonville High was awarded a silver medal in the magazine’s rankings. Also earning silver medals were Reynolds, Owen and Enka high schools, which ranked No. 12, No. 17 and No. 20 in the state, respectively.
U.S. News awarded gold, silver or bronze medals based on schools’ performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college.
Regina Lambert, director of high schools for Buncombe County Schools, said the district was thrilled to see so many Buncombe schools in the top 20.
“I think it’s something to be extremely proud of, to see that we’re serving all our kids well and not just certain subgroups,” Lambert said. “There are a lot of different indicators out there, but the community pays attention to (rankings) like this, where there’s an independent measure looking at how well you’re doing on a state and national level.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to be done,” she said. “But it’s encouraging to see an indicator like this that we’re serving all our students, that kids at every level are leaving college-ready.”
East Henderson High and North Henderson High were also listed as among the best in the state. Both schools were awarded silver medals, with North Henderson ranked No. 24 and East Henderson No. 26 in the state. In North Carolina, only four school districts had three or more schools make the state rankings.
Polk County High earned a silver medal and was ranked No. 27 in the state.
Western N.C. high schools earning bronze medals but no state rankings included Balfour Education Center in Henderson County, Brevard High in Transylvania County, East Burke High, East Rutherford High, both Franklin High and Union Academy in Macon County, Hayesville High in Clay County, Mountain Heritage High in Yancey County and Pisgah High in Haywood County.
The criteria
U.S. News collected data on more than 19,400 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Schools were ranked within each state, as well as on a national stage. In the national rankings, 500 schools earned gold medals, 1,519 were awarded silver and 2,688 took home bronze.
Among North Carolina schools, there were two with gold medals, 34 with silver and 61 with bronze.
Rankings and medals were based on how high a school scored in three areas: overall performance of students on state tests; how well the school’s least-advantaged students performed on those tests (if better than the state average); and college preparation, measured by student performance on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams.
Gold medals were given to the top 500 schools in the country based on college readiness and English and Algebra proficiency. College readiness was determined by the percentage of 12th-graders who passed AP exams, and proficiency in English and Algebra was based on state exit exam results.
Silver medals were awarded to high-performing schools that had lower college readiness. Bronze medal status was given to high-performing schools based on state exams.
To read the article in the U.S News and World Report, visit http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools.